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The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:

HOMICIDES DOWN ACROSS THE REGION
Homicides in the Washington region declined 23 percent last year, according to a report by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. That drop is part of an 8 percent decrease in serious crime in the area in 2009 compared with the previous year, according to the report. Since 2005, area crime has dropped about 6 percent. Those numbers are "very good news" for the area, said Stephen Holl, police chief for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. Holl, the head of the COG police chiefs committee, presented the data to board members at their monthly meeting Wednesday. (Washington Examiner)

PRETTY ANIMALS, EAT PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING
In the right setting, deer are so serene, so graceful, so beautiful. In the garden and around landscaping — not so much.
The day lilies are gone. The tops of the bean plants have been grazed off. Lettuce is nipped to a mere stub. The hostas are just a memory. Azaleas, tree saplings, rhododendron — chewed, rubbed and eaten to the point of no return. (The Independent)

WEST NILE, NO BIG DEALWhen it first appeared in the local area a decade ago, West Nile virus was considered by some public-health professionals a prospective disaster in the making. Today? Not so much. Last year there were just five reported West Nile cases in humans across all of Virginia, one of which was in Fairfax County. (Sun Gazette)

COACH RESIGNS, BIO DOES NOT MATCH RECORDS
A recently hired Loudoun high school baseball coach whose biography did not match official records has resigned, putting him in a league with several coaches around the country discovered to have embellished their resumes. A Times-Mirror article July 7 listed inaccuracies in the information Traelic Cotter submitted when he applied for the head coaching position at Tuscarora High School. In a biography sent to the Times-Mirror in June by Tuscarora athletic director Derek Farrey, Cotter claimed to have received several national awards while playing college baseball, although official records show that he received awards only at the conference level. (Loudoun Times)